Proverbs on Finances - Intro

The inaugural Bible study for our new house church network in Las Vegas is on finances. In it we are reading Howard Dayton’s book, Free and Clear. The book is about how to get out of debt and how to reel in your spending in general…from a Christian perspective. One of the things I did in preparing for the study was to read through the book of Proverbs and find everything it has to say about handling our finances wisely. This is also an assignment that I’ve passed on to those who are attending the study. It was an extremely valuable exercise for me and hopefully it will be helpful for them as well. I’d recommend that you try it too!

This is the first in a series of posts that I’ll discuss what I’ve learned. Much of it is review and common sense, but maybe for some people it will be eye opening or helpful in some way. In any case, keep an eye out for other posts. I’ll try to keep them coming at a clip of once every 2-4 days. This series could be as many as 14 posts long, but I haven’t decided how to break them down yet. I have 14 topics to cover, so that seems most logical. I might combine a couple of the smaller ones. We’ll see.

Here’s a list of the topics to, hopefully, perk your interest:

1. Blessings are typical for those who trust God.
2. Bribes are a shady business.
3. Faithful stewardship preferred over rapidly gained wealth.
4. Generosity is a characteristic of the godly.
5. Righteousness is preferred over riches.
6. False friends are ever-present in times of wealth.
7. Co-signing or taking on debt should be avoided at all costs.
8. Wisdom is preferred over wealth.
9. Finding security in wealth has a false bottom.
10. Satisfaction – wealth is a matter of perspective.
11. What Proverbs has to say about the poor.
12. The righteous response to the poor.
13. The false appeal (and stupidity) of unjust profit.
14. Contrasts between the diligent steward and the lazy sluggard.

I won’t necessarily cover these in this order. I tend to operate as the wind blows and time allows. I’d love your interaction throughout the series!